Small Business Success Strategies

Truck Drivers: Beware And Prepare - A Guide To Trucking In The Northeast

As someone who is investigating the opportunities in truck driving careers, you undoubtedly have heard the horror stories about trucking  in the Northeast. The stories of overcrowded roadways, lack of parking spaces and the constant fighting to jockey into position so you won't miss your exit, are all true. A driver has not lived until they have experienced trucking in the Northeast. This area of the United States is one place that the truck driving schools cannot prepare you for. Even seasoned drivers will stop beforehand and psych themselves up before tackling what lies ahead.

The major problem of driving in this area of the United States encompasses several areas. The first problem, obviously, is the enormous amount of traffic. Thousands of vehicles are doing battle to get to wherever they are going. Traffic jams, accidents and, within the cities, pedestrians EVERYWHERE! Within the boroughs of New York City, it is no easy task to get 18 wheelers down streets that are packed with hundreds of cars and thousands of people, and which were originally built in the mid 1800's!

Read Allen's entire article Truck Drivers: Beware And Prepare - A Guide To Trucking In The Northeast

Allen Smith, our official Trucking/Truck Driver Training Expert

How to Create an Operations Manual

An operations manual can act as a tool for training employees and empowers them to keep your business running smoothly when you are out of the office. Though it may seem like a lot of work, the effort put into your operations manual can save you money that could otherwise be wasted on mishandled procedures and employee training time.

Every operations manual is different so yours should be tailored to your specific business needs. You may want to create separate manuals for each department or job description in your company. Your operations manual should grow and change with your business so make sure to update the contents often. Store the manual in a sturdy binder with dividers to keep it organized, making it easy to update the contents and replace pages when processes change.

The following is a suggested list of topics to address in your manual:

Read Stephanie's entire article How to Create an Operations Manual

Stephanie Chandler, our official Small Business Growth Expert

How to Stay Focused on Your Home Business Goals

When you are the owner of a home business, you will find hundreds of distractions that vie for your time, energy and focus.

Common distractions include: children, family, friends, neighbors, pets, phone calls, mail, household chores, video games, television, neighborhood children, visitors, and so many more.

As an owner of a home based business, you must always remember your purpose in bringing your profession home. What was your reason for wanting to own a home business? Was your goal to work from home so that you can share in the lives of your Children?

Read Stone's entire How to Stay Focused on Your Home Business Goals

Stone Evans, our official Home Business Expert

Profit from Experience: The Key to Your Right Livelihood

We all know the story of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Swept away to the enchanting but forbidding Land of Oz by a tornado, Dorothy endures all manner of challenges in an attempt to achieve her one and only dream of returning home to her family in Kansas. It is not until the end of her frightfully wondrous journey that Dorothy has an epiphany. "…if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again," she tells Glenda, the Good Witch of the North, "I won't look any further than my own backyard." More often than not it’s the same way with career options.

Too many people either fail to see – or outright dismiss – how the personal experiences in their own "backyard" are ripe with possibilities for income streams or indeed complete careers. Every small business I ever had originated from some event, realization, or challenge I’d personally experienced.

For example in the early 80s, I took a course at the University of Massachusetts called Dynamics of White Racism with a dynamic and utterly passionate doctoral student named Judith Katz.

Read Valerie's entire article Profit from Experience: The Key to Your Right Livelihood

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

Small Business Start-Up Advice - Why Picking the Right Market Niche is So Important

Now that you have some ways to find the money to get your business going, I'll be sharing some tips on what you need to do during the start-up process over the next few weeks, since more than a third of you who responded to my recent survey were in the start up phase.

If you're reading this and you're already successful, take this opportunity to share your start up experiences and "pay it forward" by leaving a comment.

Picking Your Market Niche

Before you pick your market niche, you need to do some research. I'm sure you have an array of talents, knowledge, interests and passions. Not all of them are marketable and you don't want to be batting your head against a wall trying to become profitable.

Read Janis' entire article Small Business Start-Up Advice - Why Picking the Right Market Niche is So Important

Janis Pettit, our official Small Business Strategy Coach Expert

My Biggest Mistake as a Life Coach

Want to know? The single biggest mistake I made as a life coach was trying to sell coaching. I didn’t realize that few people seek out coaching as a solution. Add to that, I was trying to attract big groups of people that weren’t easy to reach — women in transition and later, midlife women.

Just thinking about it makes me tired.

I didn’t know any better. All my peers were picking a topic they felt passionate about as their coaching niche. I blindly followed them onto that rocky road and never stopped to question whether that was the way to make a good living as a coach. Turns out, it wasn’t.

Read Rhonda's entire article My Biggest Mistake as a Life Coach

Rhonda Hess, our official Coaching Business Success Expert

How to Attract Clients and Opportunities Using Social Media Marketing

   Social networking gives entrepreneurs a powerful opportunity to get in front of big audiences in a short amount of time. With that kind of access to so many people, you find yourself facing new opportunities to attract ideally matched clients. In order to make this work using social media, you must have a clear plan. When you take time to focus on the potential of the relationships you create in social networking, you'll magnetize your marketing and activate a loyal following of ready-to-buy fans!

Know Why You're There

It's essential that you have a clear idea of why you're using social media. Most business owners haven't clearly defined why they are using it or what it will accomplish for them.

Read Nancy's entire article How to Attract Clients and Opportunities Using Social Media Marketing

Nancy Marmolejo, our official Visibility Expert

Clearing out the Clutter

Clutter can consist of many different things in your home that you have no use for and you have been accumulating for long time. I’ve seen people who have had basements filled with old magazines and newspapers. Homes where you had to walk a narrow path to get through the house in order to get from one room to the next. This is the result of clutter piling up to the point where it got overwhelming for the person.

There are two reasons why people tend to collect a lot of clutter. One reason is that they feel that they have something of value and continue to hang onto items that, in reality, usually have very little or no value. These types of people are those who are afraid to throw anything out less they find that they need it “someday”. Remember that “someday” is not a day of the week. When you hear yourself saying that, think “DISCARD”! Some people have a compulsive disorder to keep everything that they receive, including junk mail, newspapers and other items that people normally throw out, just in case they may want to look at them anyway.

Read Debbye's entire article Clearing out the Clutter

Debbye Cannon, our official BusinessMom Mentor Expert

The Cheapest Route to Getting Your CDL

Professional truck driving  is a major force in today's economy. Presently, there are over 8 million licensed CDL drivers in the United States today. For the thousands of "new" drivers breaking into truck driving, they find themselves in a tough dilemma: few companies will hire you without at least 6 months to a year of driving experience, so how do you get the experience once you've achieved your CDL? This is where the companies come into play.

Many trucking companies offer a "school" that usually lasts around three weeks which will get you your CDL license. After finishing, you will be asked to sign a one year contract stating that you will drive for that company, and that company ONLY! Thus, getting your one year of experience. After that, you can go anywhere and find truck driving jobs. The problem being: this company "school" or any of the many truck driving schools can end up costing you thousands of dollars and MORE! Going through a company CDL program is a very dangerous thing in this author's opinion.

Read Allen's entire article The Cheapest Route to Getting Your CDL

Allen Smith, our official Trucking/Truck Driver Training Expert

Before Branding Your Company, Define Your Market Niche!

When branding a new company, the most pressing issues are not always the most important ones. There may be an upcoming trade show, a meeting with potential investors, or an impending trademark conflict. These urgent mandates can often obscure the overarching need to properly position your company in your industry. In a rush to brand your business, you may end up with a company name that you can use at a trade show, present to investors, and pass through trademark, but it may not reflect your value proposition, the very thing that makes your company unique and compelling.

Let’s say for instance, you have a company called Express Loans, and you find out that there is another company with a similar name. You might try changing it to Sonic Loans, Jet Loans, Cheetah Loans, or Mach One Loans, but the real question should be, “What do we do best?”

Read Phil's entire article Before Branding Your Company, Define Your Market Niche!

Phil Davis, our official Branding and Naming Expert